Honesty is so hot right now

Just do something honest…it doesn’t even really matter what…just let it be you…authentic…if flawed…but also maybe great…reach deep…beyond what is working for others…beyond what is not working for you that you have somehow rationalized…be genuine…express yourself…neither in the face of, nor in the name of, economics, acceptance, or praise…what is something you can do that is simply true?…unquestionable…once released or completed…what can you look at without hesitation and say “yes…that is me…this is mine…and there is no ambiguity or regret about it.” That thing…or more precisely whatever you connected with to take that step, make that thing, be that thing…that thing is north…it is what gets covered up and obfuscated by keynote speeches, fireside chats, billion dollar deals, fancy invitations, top 10 lists, and manufactured heat…it is what you give up when your confidence is down…it is what you give up to pay your rent…it is what you give up to be understood immediately…to fit into something that sounds clean and attractive over cocktails…it is what gets drowned out by the hype machine, content marketing machine, megaround, marquis hire, ergonomically correct, cold pressed juice, gloss machine…it is the thing that let’s you make it…without faking it till you…nah…actually if you’re faking it…you’re never gonna make it…even if…somehow…you get so good at not being you…that you make some money and fool some people along the way…you will never make it…because you had something better in you…that was really you…that would allow you to live as yourself…without compromise…freely…and successfully…and you gave it all up to make a top 10 list…that somehow will sound and feel less good in a bio that reads “she was named to SA 100’s coolest people in tech” 6 years ago, and now is a product manager at Yahoo. What are you bleeding to express? Try to make money expressing it and the multiples will expand…economic, social, emotional…it is so rare to hit that sweetest of sweet spots where you can just wake up…be you…and let the world reward you for your honesty…but that is where it’s at…and if nobody sees you…for a very long time…that means nothing…as long as you see yourself in what you are doing…all those things that you admire from afar…some of them are for you…and some are not…and the fastest way to figure out which are which is to express yourself as honestly as possible in your work.